Levi woke up in the middle of the night with a pang of hurt in his ankle. For a moment he thought he was somewhere else but his home; he could be out there, in some strange place where he'd be trapped inside of the walls. Or he could be in some forest. But no, he was in his room, with his wife beside him.

He reached out to touch her, and when he felt her breathing okay, he stood up and walked to his office. Before he left, he turned around to see Petra still sleeping in their bed, with her arms protectively around her swollen belly. It was about time she'd give birth to the child. Their child.

In his office, he pulled out a piece of paper and pen. He was about to do some reports Erwin wanted him to, but instead, he was scribbling at things he didn't realize he was writing then.

I don't know how you will look like. Maybe you'll look like your mother, with blond hair and blue eyes. Maybe you'll look like me, dark hair and grey eyes. Or maybe you'll look like both me and your mother; blond hair with grey eyes, or dark hair with blue eyes. I don't know. What I know is, I'll have a daughter. He wrote. His handwriting was always messy and almost no one could read it but him and Petra. Even Erwin preferred to have an important note from Levi to be printed out, not written.

I hope I can tell you that I'll be the Best Dad Ever, but I can't. Because nobody knows—and this is the part where if your mother reads it, she'll roll her eyes and mutters, "Here we go."—how it turns out after you are born.

I grew up adopted by a single father who didn't know how to handle a child. And if I made a mistake, he'd hit me. It took me years to find out what he'd been doing was wrong. I won't hit my child. I won't be like him… but what if I will?

I can't wait to get to know you, but on the other hand, I'm also scared. I'm scared to hurt you while I'm supposed to protect you from the bad things in the world. But here's another lesson from me—your mother will not roll her eyes this time—that no matter how many people around you, no matter how many friends or families you have, you'll still be alone. There's a difference between being alone and lonely, but we'll get to that later.

When you take your first step, you'll have to do it alone. You'll find your mother and me standing to catch you if you fall—but you'll still have to do it by yourself.

Please remember that next time, when you take your first big step (like moving out to college or even having your first boyfriend—but I'd like not to think about it), that we'll be here to catch you if you fall.

Even if I don't show it, please trust me.

I can't wait to get to know you. We can't wait.

Your father

"Levi? What are you doing?" He looked up and found Petra standing in the doorway. He couldn't remember when he woke up and did not think what he'd done in the previous life to deserve her.

Maybe in the previous life, he was forced to watch her die. Or maybe he was also forced to live without her.

He didn't know how he could think about such things—he just knew. It couldn't be true, anyway, he didn't believe in reincarnation or such. And it didn't matter right then.

"Nothing, Petra. Let's go back to the bed?" He stood up and walked to her, arm around her back to support her—he knew walking for her will be too hard because she felt heavy herself. He rubbed her belly and thought, yes, I can't wait.